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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26586166">On Unexpected Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drosselmeyer/pseuds/Drosselmeyer'>Drosselmeyer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Divergence, Drabble Sequence, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Modern Era, PTSD, Reunion Fic, Reunions, Romance, Slow Burn, Vignettes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:49:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,193</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26586166</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drosselmeyer/pseuds/Drosselmeyer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's by chance that they happen across each other again, but it's by choice that they don't let each other go.</p><p>A reunion fic.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Higurashi Kagome &amp; Sesshoumaru, Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>754</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>411</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fics in the Time of Coronavirus, SessKag Angst - Medium Angst</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Hello Again - Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <i>Trying something new to keep creativity churning between the larger fic updates. This is a series of 100 word vignettes depicting how Sesshoumaru and Kagome's relationship grows as they once again step into each other's presence in Kagome's time.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> <b>Major thanks goes to LadyGoshawk for being my extra set of eyes on this fic! &lt;3</b></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The past returns with a whisper.</p><p>“Sesshoumaru?”</p><p><em>That voice.</em> Feminine and soothing as he remembers it, it drifts among the morning beams and tears him from his solitude.</p><p>“Is it really you?”</p><p>For a split second, his breath catches in his chest. Memory can be cruel, and the ghosts of the past have teased him before. But a sudden, soft touch on his sleeve anchors him to the present.</p><p>His arm tingling, he turns, eyes widening a fraction. <em>Impossible.</em></p><p>There, barefoot in a forgotten field, the scent of grass mingling with her own, memory stands.</p><p>“Miko?”</p><p>She smiles, shy. “Hi.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They don’t know what to say, but there is the unspoken agreement that neither is willing to lose contact.</p><p>With an unsure smile, she hands him her phone. “Your number?”</p><p>Still reeling from the surprise of finding someone he had assumed gone, he absently punches it in, and when he hands her phone back, their fingers accidentally brush.</p><p><em>Reiryoku</em> sparks against his skin, and, for the first time in centuries, his own power rises in defense.</p><p>“Oh!” She yanks her hand back, guilt spiking her scent. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>He stares at his skin, perversely missing the sting. “It is fine.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her sad wave goodbye plagues him alongside memories of those he lost to time. If they are the weight on his shoulders, that wave is the anvil on his chest. And as he crawls into bed that night, it’s suffocating.</p><p>It still is when his phone rings at 3:00am. “Miko.”</p><p>“<em>Were you asleep?”</em> Her voice is soft, uncertain.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“<em>Oh, good. Well, not good that you can’t sleep, but—”</em></p><p>“Hush.” Exhaustion suddenly crippling, he hits the speaker and sets the phone on his pillow. “Just sleep.”</p><p>It’s what she needed.</p><p>“<em>Th-Thank you.”</em></p><p>“Goodnight, Miko.”</p><p>“<em>Sweet dreams.”</em></p><p>Surprisingly, they are.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The buzzing of an alarm wakes him before seven the following morning.</p><p>Bleary and half awake, Sesshoumaru spends far longer than he’d like to admit blindly smacking at his clock before he realizes its <em>hers </em>blaring at him over the phone.</p><p>“<em>Hold on!”</em></p><p>Her voice is as groggy as he feels, and he falls back onto his pillows, rubbing his hand tiredly over his face. The sound of her sheets rustling and knees thumping in her rush to turn off the offensive racket is almost amusing.</p><p>“<em>Sorry. I guess that woke you.”</em></p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“<em>Oh.” </em>A prolonged silence and then, “<em>Breakfast?”</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When he arrives at her home, coffee for them both in hand, he can see her excitement underneath the swelling around her eyes. He doesn’t understand why, but nostalgia pangs his chest nonetheless.</p><p>“You have been crying.”</p><p>A jittery hand touches her face, and she offers a wan smile. “A little. Yesterday was…”</p><p>“Unexpected.”</p><p>She chokes back a laugh. “Yeah. You could say that.” Raw honesty suddenly bleeds into her eyes and voice. “But I’m really glad to see you.”</p><p>Her sincerity gives him pause one moment and convicts him the next. Because if he is honest, he’s glad too.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s three weeks before her hands stop shaking and four before his circumspection wanes. Time has been cruel to them both, and neither trust that it won’t strike out again.</p><p>That it won’t steal what’s left from a time neither can forget.</p><p>“I keep thinking you’ll disappear.” Emotion chokes her words as she picks at her lunch, an anxious hand tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. “Like the others.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru stills her fidgeting, ignoring the grief that makes him worry the same. “I will not.”</p><p>“Promise?”</p><p>Slender fingers grasp his, and her hope and vulnerability cut through him. “Yes.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Bloom in the Dark - Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He keeps his promise to her, and when weeks bleed into months, he decides that maybe time hasn’t been completely unkind.</p><p>“I can’t believe you’ve never done this.”</p><p>Her laughter is delightful, and there’s flour on her face. It’s a silly but homey image, and it combined with the smell of baking cookies pulls a smile free of its constraints. “I have not.”</p><p>He doesn’t realize what he’s done until her fingertip brushes his cheek.</p><p>“Saw that,” she says softly.</p><p>Habit grabs him by the teeth, and it disappears. “Hn. You saw—”</p><p>She shoves cookie dough into his mouth.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: This is going to be more than just 11 chapters as originally intended. Likely less than 50, but there's more to come. Thank you to everyone reading and commenting. I hope you continue to enjoy. &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Often, they return where they met again and just walk, some of the hurt the years have wrought melting away as they do.</p><p>“It’s almost like being back again, isn’t it?” And she spins on her heel, grinning up at him while she ambles backward.</p><p>He snorts. “The stench would say otherwise.”</p><p>“Ah.” Bending, she snatches up a handful of flowers. “Didn’t think about that.”</p><p>“It will not be as noticeable to you.”</p><p>“No, I suppose not.”  A second later, she sets a wildflower crown on her head. “What do you think?”</p><p>But he doesn’t think. Instead, everything goes numb.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One more coming today. ;-)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Reality sets in, and she gasps, ripping the crown from her head. “I wasn’t thinking.”</p><p>He still hasn’t moved and remains frozen in place, his eyes fixed ahead as images belonging only in history books dance in front of him.</p><p>An imp and a small girl.</p><p>
  <em>Rin. Jaken.</em>
</p><p>“Sesshoumaru—”</p><p>“I am fine.”</p><p>“No, you’re not.”</p><p>His eyes snap to her face, a warning blazing behind them, but she’s seen him meaner than this and isn’t shaken.</p><p>Touching his shoulder, her eyes soften. “Neither of us are.” And then, she steps closer.</p><p>He didn’t know her hug would be warm.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I still see them sometimes.”</p><p>The confession comes over coffee, but she’s ashamed and refuses to look up, and she misses entirely the startled expression on his face.</p><p>She doesn’t realize she’s spoken his heart.</p><p>“Am I insane?” she whispers, still not meeting his eyes.</p><p>Sesshoumaru laughs then, bitter. “You are not.”</p><p>When she gives him a confused look, he pushes his vulnerability aside for her sake and divulges the truth that haunts him. “I see them as well.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“The field.”</p><p>Relieved, she sags. “I thought I was crazy.”</p><p>He sips his coffee, thoughtful. “We are traumatized, not crazy.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s drizzly when he walks her home, the heaviness from earlier trailing on their heels as they make their way through the dark, but it’s at least warm, even if the miko is silent beside him.</p><p>“Do you get tired of being alone?”</p><p>Or was.</p><p>He slants a look at her, taking in the way the light rain has beaded on her hair, and for a second debates not answering. But her eyes slide to his, and the genuine care behind the blue chips at his willfulness.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Simple, honest. Nothing else needed.</p><p>Her hand slides into his. “Me too.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Comfort settles as weeks pass, and she slips into the fissures left by those lost.</p><p>“Where are the mugs?”</p><p>He watches her root around, barefoot on her toes in his kitchen while pressed apples and spices simmer on the stove.</p><p>It sparks something he ignores. “The cabinet on the left.”</p><p>Humming pleasantly, she opens it and finds what she needs. “Sit. I’ll bring it out.” She flashes him a grin. “It’s autumn in a cup.”</p><p>“Hn.” Curiosity taking over, he leans closer. “Domesticity, Miko?”</p><p>Her grin turns cheeky. “Only for friends who were once enemies.”</p><p>He almost smiles.</p><p>She laughs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Bonus post today. :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Was it slow for you?”</p><p>She’s asked carefully, but the words pierce like knives, and he stares into his glass, swirling around something harder than stovetop comforts as he pretends to not know what she meant. “Slow?”</p><p>He throws back the liquor, his eyes challenging hers.</p><p>“Don’t do that.”</p><p>Fortitude reminiscent of a time long past lights behind midnight irises, challenging him back. She never relinquished a fight then, and she won’t now.</p><p>Minutes pass and suddenly weary, he sets the tumbler down. “Prolonged.”</p><p>“Sounds like Hell,” she whispers.</p><p>“I have conquered Hell.” His mouth sets, grim. “This I cannot."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. When You Fall - Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Six days later, he knocks on her door and is met with silence.</p><p>Deafening silence.</p><p>“Miko?”</p><p>His pulse picking up, he knocks again, looking over his shoulder to check if her car is in the driveway. It is, and the muscles in his arms tense unpleasantly as he raises a fist and pounds harder. “<em>Miko.”</em></p><p>Seconds before he breaks the door down, a faint shuffle echoes within followed by soft sniffles, and he breathes a sigh of relief just as the sound of the lock unlatching grates over his hearing.</p><p>The door opens, and all he sees is watery blue.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She hasn’t showered since he last saw her, and the way she reaches across her chest to hold her arm and won’t quite meet his eyes tells him she’s aware he can tell.</p><p>And ashamed.</p><p>“You are spiraling.” He says it matter-of-factly, taking in the natural oils clinging to normally shiny locks. Her shirt is rumpled and her pants too large, and she only spares him a quick glance before looking again at the ground.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru pushes past her, heading for her room. “Bathroom. Now.”</p><p>The sound of shuffling feet following behind him is louder than it should be.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Take your time. Soak.”</p><p>She opens her mouth to squeak out a protest, but Sesshoumaru closes her bathroom door before she can.</p><p>And walks into an all-too familiar mess.</p><p>Vertigo washes over him, his chest and throat tightening while spots sparkle in his vision. He sinks down to the floor, hands automatically going to his head as he reminds himself that he’s not really suffocating.</p><p>A fought-for, ragged breath drags in anyway.</p><p>The unmade bed, the strewn laundry, the stench of a microwavable dinner sitting on the counter in a kitchen full of dirty dishes…</p><p>
  <em>Spiraling.</em>
</p><p>Just like he does.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of running water and scent of lavender wafting through the door pull him back to the present, and he inhales. Slow and deep, he keeps breathing, and soon, his adrenaline returns to normal.</p><p>He almost sighs his relief but manages to hold it back.</p><p>Refusing to dwell on it further, he schools his features, sheer determination driving him forward. He’s come through this before, and she’ll come through it now.</p><p>Clawed hands toss laundry into a basket, make her bed, and dump her “dinner” into the trash.</p><p><em>Good riddance</em>. Snorting, he turns to the sink.</p><p>Dishes are next.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nearly two hours later, he’s tending a stew on the stove when her footfalls reach his ears, and before she reaches the kitchen, he can tell she is rested and clean and in better spirits than before.</p><p>Even with sadness lingering on the edge of her scent.</p><p>“This will be finished shortly,” he murmurs, covering the pot and not looking back. “There is tea on the table.”</p><p>There’s no answer, but thin arms suddenly slide around his middle, and he feels her lean into his back. “Miko?”</p><p>“Thank you.” Her breath shudders, and she leans more heavily. “Just…thank you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s quiet after dinner.</p><p>They sit on her couch, cups of tea steaming in hand as the imperfect sounds of lo-fi float around them, and night filters in through open windows, the chill of autumn winds rustling through the trees surrounding her home.</p><p>“This is the most peace I’ve felt all week.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru looks up from his tea to find her staring down into hers. “Peace like this is fleeting.”</p><p>A frown pinches her face. “But does it have to be?”</p><p>Her question hangs between them, and he hesitates before answering. “I do not know, Miko.”</p><p>She sighs. “Me either.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: This is it for tonight. Thank you to Cakeiton for lo-fi inspirations. &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hours drift by, a single lamp fending off the darkness with the yellow warmth of its lone bulb, and his lids begin to grow heavy, drowsiness taking over with the final bits of tea and lull of electronic beats.</p><p>The miko isn’t faring much better.</p><p>Sluggish, Sesshoumaru runs a hand through his hair, stalling in his fatigue for a moment more. But before he can get up, a small, warm body sidles up against him.</p><p>“Miko?” His surprise increases as her arm loops over his ribs. “What are you doing?”</p><p>She smiles, content, and closes her eyes. “Taking a liberty.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Morning comes quietly.</p><p>The first beams of light stir Sesshoumaru from sleep, and he stretches, his back curving over the arm of the couch as he does.</p><p>A weight shifts on his chest.</p><p>Arms still over his head, he stiffens and looks down to find the miko curled against him. Her lips are parted, dark lashes dusting sleep-flushed cheeks, and she breathes softly, her fingers tangled in his shirt over his sternum.</p><p>It’s…not unpleasant.</p><p>Careful not to wake her, he relaxes his stretch and settles his arms around her, closing his eyes once more.</p><p>Perhaps peace isn’t so fleeting.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Two Drops in an Ocean - Part 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They see each other every day, and the thought of one going by without her conversation or face kindles a disquiet Sesshoumaru chooses to not dwell on. But as he walks her home that evening, he is distracted by <em>why</em>.</p><p>Until she distracts him with something else.</p><p>“Mama wants you to come for dinner.”</p><p>He slants his eyes at her just as the streetlamps flick on and says nothing.</p><p>“Don’t look at me like that.” Her voice softens. “I think they’re curious about you.”</p><p>They reach her house, and she unlocks her door.</p><p>He doesn’t tell her he’s curious too.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her mother decks him before he can even make it through the door.</p><p>“<em>Mama!”</em></p><p>It’s never happened before, a human knocking him off his feet. But as Sesshoumaru stares up at the night sky, the miko shrieking in the background, he muses silently that isn’t entirely inappropriate.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Her worried face pops into view, concerned hands touch his cheeks…</p><p>The urge to laugh sticks in his throat. It’s absurd. All of it. Him, her, <em>her mother</em>…</p><p>He presses his lips together, trying to hold it in, and her eyes widen.</p><p>“Oh, gods. Mama broke you.”</p><p>He loses it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dinner is pleasant.</p><p>Sesshoumaru is content to listen to the familial chatter, answer questions when they are asked of him. He satisfies his own curiosities, engaging his hosts selectively so as not to elicit triggering lines of discourse. And through it all, though non-invasive and considerate, he feels seen, especially by her mother.</p><p>It’s both comforting and disconcerting.</p><p>“This was fun,” her mother says. She walks them to the door, kisses the miko’s cheek goodbye. “You should come back next week.”</p><p>Then, she turns to him, her mother’s eyes discerning, and reaches up and kisses him too.</p><p>“Both of you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You’re really quiet.”</p><p>It’s dark, and he’s walking her home again. She doesn’t live far from her mother, but he won’t leave her to wander the streets alone.</p><p>Can’t.</p><p>“Dinner was…enjoyable,” he says after a moment of consideration.</p><p>The miko smiles at the admission and bumps his shoulder with hers. “Mama liked you, you know.” Walking a bit ahead, she spins on her heel and walks backwards. “How’s your face?”</p><p>Startled, his hand touches his cheek but not the one her mother hit.</p><p>Her eyes widen in realization. “When’s the last time someone kissed you?”</p><p>He can’t answer her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They’re both quiet until they reach her house.</p><p>It’s late, and he’s not going to go in. But something’s on her mind, and she hesitates to open the door</p><p>“Here.” she finally says.</p><p>Sesshoumaru looks down as she stuffs a silver key into his hand.</p><p>“Don’t ask me why.” Even in the dark, her blush burns, and she won’t meet his eyes. “After everything…you should have it.”</p><p>He just nods.</p><p>Suddenly, she’s on her toes, and a quick kiss lands at the corner of his mouth.</p><p>“One for the road,” she whispers.</p><p>Before his surprise wears off, she’s inside.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Part 5 - La Vie en Rose</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: Hello everyone! Part 5 up today. We have 3-4 more parts (each containing around 5ish chapters) left of this fic. Drawing closer to the end! Thank you to everyone reading and commenting. I've enjoyed writing this one, and I hope you continue to enjoy it too. Another massive thanks to LadyGoshawk for all her beta help! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He leaves his key in her mailbox two days later, and the line between living spaces blurs.</p><p>One week, she finds his sock in her couch. The next, he’s dropping off a forgotten purse on his way to work. One week, he comes home to find a homecooked meal and a smile in his kitchen. The next, her pipes burst, and he beats her home and stops the flood before she gets there.</p><p>“Are we weird?” she asks, mopping up the floor beside him.</p><p>Sesshoumaru pauses, looks at her, and then goes back to mopping. “Unconventional.”</p><p>“Sounds like ‘weird.’”</p><p>“Perhaps.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What’s your biggest fear?”</p><p>Under the stars in the dark hours of the morning, he turns his head to glimpse her and arches a brow. “Fear?”</p><p>“Sure.” She looks at the sky, avoiding his gaze. “Everyone’s afraid of something.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru doesn’t answer at first. Fear is dangerous territory, but her question is honest. Convicting.</p><p>Refusing to meet her eyes, he shifts his shoulders against the grass and joins her search of the stars. “Loss.”</p><p>“Like of a watch?” she jokes weakly.</p><p>Hesitating, his hand finds hers. “No, Miko.” Their fingers lace. “Those loved.”</p><p>Breath catching, she squeezes gently. “Me too.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She fills the void that followed him for centuries.</p><p>“Long day?”</p><p>Sesshoumaru closes the door to his apartment. “Long”—the glamor he wears day in and day out fades away—“is an inadequate descriptor.”</p><p>Toeing off his shoes, he closes his eyes and tips his head back to the wall, the stress that suffocates him threatening to rage. But then, while reminding himself to breathe, fingertips glance over the markings on his cheek.</p><p>He looks down. “Miko?”</p><p>“This exhausts you.”</p><p>Heavier now that it’s said, he doesn’t try to hide it as he turns his face into her touch. “Yes.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her home smells of salt.</p><p>Sesshoumaru finds her curled on her bed, tears streaming as she clings to an old school uniform and pictures of friends she’ll never see again.</p><p>“I can’t do this,” she rasps.</p><p>He slides in behind her, pulling her to him. “You are doing this, Kagome.” The reminder is bitter, and he fights his own anguish, holding her tighter as heartache bleeds between them. “And you are not alone.”</p><p>Sniffles softening, she turns in his arms. “What did you say?”</p><p>“You—”</p><p>“No, my name.” Her cheeks turn pink. “Say it again.”</p><p>“Kagome,” he whispers.</p><p>She smiles.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They doze, and two hours later, he wakes to two blue eyes watching him.</p><p>“It’s evening,” Her voice rough with sleep, she stretches slightly before settling her hands back against his chest. “We slept awhile.”</p><p>He simply nods, too comfortable to be bothered to move, even as insecure hands begin to fidget with his open collar.</p><p>“You always manage to save me.”</p><p>Stilling her hands, he drapes his arm around her and closes his eyes again. “Return the favor on Friday.”</p><p>“Friday?”</p><p>“Corporate dinner,” he murmurs, sleep once again threatening.</p><p>“You getting dressed up?”</p><p>“As are you.”</p><p>She laughs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Chapter 32</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dinner is unexpectedly pleasant, and it is because of her.</p><p>He watches her in the low light of the restaurant’s private room, only diverting his attention to answer questions from his colleagues. She’s the brightness in an otherwise dim environment, her affability and kindness shining through the trenches of ennui that usually accompany these events.</p><p>She smiles at a woman he works with, complementing her genuinely under their party’s din, and turns to him.</p><p>“I think it’s going well,” she whispers, leaning close to him.</p><p>Sesshoumaru hums and looks down to meet her eyes.</p><p>Her smile broadens when he does.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Chapter 33</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“See? That wasn’t so bad.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru depresses the ignition switch in his car, shaking his hair free of the low tail that has bound it all evening. “It was tolerable.”</p><p>“Tolerable?” Pushing his hands aside, she slips the button of his collar free for him as he backs out. “Others saw you smile.”</p><p>“Is that so?”</p><p>She laughs. “You’re not fooling”—she stops suddenly, eyes widening—“<em>watch out!”</em></p><p>Headlights flash through his windshield. Sesshoumaru slams on the brakes, throwing his arm out to brace her as the cold fingers of dread grip his chest.</p><p>Metal crunches.</p><p>Glass shatters.</p><p>Kagome screams.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. When I Run - Part 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sesshoumaru sits with his head in bandaged hands, the smell of antiseptic an uncalled-for torture as he waits for news. All around him he can hear and smell the evidence of death, and each fading monitor and each moan of pain grips his heart in a vise.</p><p>Clenching his eyes shut, he grits his teeth, trying to tune it all out as incoming sirens blare in the background.</p><p>His foot starts to tap, clacking rapidly against the floor.</p><p>“Sesshoumaru?”</p><p>Her mother.</p><p>His head snaps up, foot still tapping.</p><p>She sits beside him, taking his face in her hands. “She’s okay.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She’s asleep when he finds her room, but he stops in the doorway, his eyes fixed on her sleeping face.</p><p>It’s bandaged and bruised.</p><p>He can’t breathe, is suddenly shaking. She’s alive. She’s tough. She’s survived so much worse. But she’s also vulnerable and fragile and such a temporary thing, and that reality crushes him with its unkindness.</p><p>Before he realizes it, he’s crossing the room, the beep of the monitor pounding in his ears as he sits on her bed.</p><p>She stirs. “Sesshoumaru?”</p><p>Unsteady as his own is, he takes her hand. “Here.”</p><p>Her eyes open and immediately soften.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Come here.”</p><p>A bandaged arm lifts to him, and he takes her hand as best he can, his fingers tingling unpleasantly beneath his own bindings.</p><p>Nausea rears its ugly head.</p><p>“I’m okay.” Tugging his sleeve, she doesn’t relent until he stretches out beside her, and then she scoots closer, closing the small distance between them. “We’re okay.”</p><p>Her injured arm drapes around him, and Sesshoumaru closes his eyes, carefully drawing her closer. A ridge of bandages lays under the thin material of her gown, and she is suddenly ephemeral, another to be lost.</p><p>“I’m okay,” she whispers again.</p><p>He’s not.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Chapter 37</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s midnight when Sesshoumaru gets home, and as he enters his apartment, he doesn’t bother turning on the lights.</p><p>Her scream plays in his head on repeat.</p><p>Squeezing his eyes shut, he lifts his hands to his teeth and rips the bandages away. They’re healed but stiff, and he opens and closes his fists, working life back into them.</p><p>
  <em>Life…</em>
</p><p>His shoulders slump forward. Tiredly, sluggishly, he heads for his room, peeling off his clothes and leaving them to trail behind him on the way.</p><p><em>Kagome</em>.</p><p>Sucking in a pained breath, Sesshoumaru closes his eyes.</p><p>He can’t do this again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Chapter 38</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She calls, but he doesn’t answer.</p><p>From his desk in his office, Sesshoumaru slants a look at his phone as her name pops up on the screen. But he doesn’t give it more than a second of his attention before turning back to his work.</p><p>Doesn’t listen to the voicemail that pops up a minute later.</p><p>Ignores the hollow that begins to form in his chest.</p><p>A couple of hours later, he has a text message from her and makes the mistake of reading it.</p><p>
  <em>Hey! I’m home now! Did you get caught up at work?</em>
</p><p>He swallows, throat thick.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Chapter 39</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A week passes.</p><p>He doesn’t call her, doesn’t answer hers. But even though he’s ignoring her, he can feel her confusion and taste her hurt.</p><p>
  <em>Hey, are you okay?</em>
</p><p>Still, he doesn’t respond.</p><p>
  <em>Sesshoumaru, did I do something?</em>
</p><p>Throwing his pen, he pinches the bridge of his nose and tries to tune out the guilt threatening to overwhelm him. With each attempt to reach him, he feels heavier, more tired. But it changes nothing, and he persists in his solitude.</p><p>Overlooks that he’s all but moved into his office to avoid her.</p><p>Another text alerts.</p><p>He shuts off his phone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Chapter 40</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Another week goes by, and he’s not okay.</p><p>Sesshoumaru calls out of work. Around him, she taunts him from the piles of unfinished laundry, half-eaten meals, and general clutter he’s neglected. The long silver hair that hangs unwashed down his back. The dark circles that glare at him in the mirror.</p><p>From the edge of his bed, he stares at the phone in his hand, trying to breathe through the guilt that seizes his lungs.</p><p>He can’t.</p><p>
  <em>I miss you, and this hurts.</em>
</p><p>Swallowing, he closes his eyes.</p><p>It hurts him too. But he’s too far gone to fix it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Chapter 41</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He’s out walking when they run into each other.</p><p>She’s as stunned as he is and tries to right her balance, not looking away. Wide eyes shine, failing to shield the hurt inside. “Sesshoumaru—”</p><p>Automatically, he steadies her on her feet, the heaviness that is his constant companion pressing down, suffocating him in her presence. But he doesn’t look away, unwillingly bonded to this moment between them.</p><p>She opens her mouth again but can’t finish and looks down.</p><p>The moment snaps.</p><p>He lets go, turns on his heel, and walks away.</p><p>The scent of her tears follows him home.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Moonlit Mile - Part 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Misery doesn’t always love company, and the harshness of his life returns as she disappears.</p><p>Suddenly, he’s alone again.</p><p>It doesn’t matter if the apartment is a mess, if he forgets to shower. When he comes home, he picks at his food or doesn’t eat, and he passes time staring at the ceiling, his mind a blank slate that ignores existence.</p><p>Wake, work, come home, try to forget. And then, one morning when he dresses, Sesshoumaru has to tighten his belt an extra two notches.</p><p>Gold eyes snap up to the mirror, and he doesn’t recognize the man staring back.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Chapter 43</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Months pass. Then one October night, she smiles back at him in his dreams, and Sesshoumaru wakes, gasping for air.</p><p>
  <em>Kagome.</em>
</p><p>Beads of sweat run in rivulets over his skin. His sheets are sticky, plastered to his body like glue, and he pulls them away, disgust on his face as he falls back onto the mattress.</p><p>He can still see her. Feel her gentle touch. Smell the faint aroma of lavender that is as much her as she is herself. Calming, reassuring, comforting…</p><p>His hand covers his eyes, and he chokes on air.</p><p>He is a cruel, pathetic, unmitigated, <em>ass.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. Chapter 44</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s the next evening when he finds himself in front of her home.</p><p>From wet streets, he glances at her door. It seems too far away, not even the welcoming light that shines behind her curtains able to ease the foreboding crushing his chest.</p><p>
  <em>Tch.</em>
</p><p>He paces, heart echoing in his ears as the redolent scent of ozone follows on his heels. It’s unforgiving, <em>loud.</em> And it drowns out his senses, an unwanted conscience retelling the mistakes that have lingered too long.</p><p>His jaw tightens. <em>You hurt her.</em>           </p><p>Still, when her shadow darkens the light, Sesshoumaru makes for her door.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0045"><h2>45. Chapter 45</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His fist is leaden.</p><p>Knuckles strike wood. It’s too loud, too heavy. The sound deafens, drowning out the night, and yet her footfalls cannot go unmissed.</p><p>They’re soft, muted by the thick socks she likes to wear.</p><p>He swallows, debates running. But the sharp click of a latch cuts through the hush, and suddenly, he can’t move and can’t look away.</p><p>Can’t escape.</p><p>Time stands still. The knob turns, and a slow, unhurried push opens the door a crack, its agonizing creak sticking in his ears.</p><p>Blue peeks up at him.</p><p><em>Breathe. </em>“Mik—"</p><p>The door slams in his face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0046"><h2>46. Chapter 46</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Perhaps it should have been, but it’s not what he was expecting.</p><p>
  <em>“I am so mad at you, Sesshoumaru!”</em>
</p><p>Her disembodied voice rages from inside, and Sesshoumaru blinks, his eyes stuck on the door. He’s never heard her angry like this—not even in the past. But now? Now, it’s here in his face, ringing in his ears, and he can smell it and taste it.</p><p>It’s metallic.</p><p>He tries to ignore the unpleasant iron-like flavor and leans his forehead against the wood. “Miko—“</p><p>
  <em>“It’s Kagome, Lord Asshole!”</em>
</p><p>Closing his eyes, he tries again. “Kagome—“</p><p>
  <em>“Go away!”</em>
</p><p>“Will you—”</p><p>
  <em>“No!”</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0047"><h2>47. Chapter 47</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It carries on like that for an hour.</p><p>Sesshoumaru is sitting against her door, shoulders hunched forward and his head tilted to rest against the jamb. He ignores the questioning stares of neighbors as he waits, the shrill upset of the miko echoing out into the streets.</p><p>“Kago—”</p><p>
  <em>“You have some nerve, Sesshoumaru!”</em>
</p><p>His head falls back, and he closes his eyes, unable to get in a word edgewise. Still, he can’t blame her.</p><p>
  <em>“Four months! Do you know how long these last four months were!”</em>
</p><p>He does, but it would be unfair of him to say.</p><p>
  <em>“It was hell!”</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0048"><h2>48. Chapter 48</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She spills her thoughts, rages, and his throat tightens, the weight of it all more than he estimated. “I am sorry.”</p><p>
  <em>“Sorry? I didn’t know what I did, if you were okay…”</em>
</p><p>Her words pound in his chest.</p><p>
  <em>“…didn’t know if I’d ever see you again…”</em>
</p><p>Pierce him.</p><p>
  <em>“…you just walked away and…”</em>
</p><p>Convict him.</p><p>
  <em>“That was a new dress I bought for that dinner, you jerk!”</em>
</p><p>But her sob, sudden and distraught, condemns him.</p><p>
  <em>“I wanted you to like it.”</em>
</p><p>The image of her that night commandeers his mind’s eye, and Sesshoumaru exhales, suddenly tired. “I did like it.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0049"><h2>49. Chapter 49</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She slides down the other side of the door, the sound scraping like sandpaper over wood, and her soft thud echoes back at him.</p><p>
  <em>“I’m an idiot.”</em>
</p><p>Dragging a hand down his face, he turns his lips toward the door. “You are not.”</p><p><em>“Yes, I am.”</em> Her head knocks back, the sound hollow and yet heavy, and she sniffles. <em>“Because I’m still going to let you in—”</em></p><p>His breath seizes in his chest.</p><p>
  <em>“—even though I shouldn’t.”</em>
</p><p>There is silence and then shuddering tears.</p><p>
  <em>“And I hate myself for that.”</em>
</p><p>Before he can remember to inhale, the door cracks open.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0050"><h2>50. Chapter 50</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The heavy wood creaks as he pushes it wide enough to slip inside.</p><p>Darkness greets him. There’s not a bulb burning in the tiny house, not a curtain open to let in the moonlight. It’s dismal, dull, and thick with grief, <em>clean</em> and unlived in as if life had just stopped.</p><p>His hands tighten into fists, and Sesshoumaru looks away.</p><p>“You disappeared.”</p><p>Her voice cuts through the stillness, and he turns. “Kagome—”</p><p>“<em>No.”</em> Standing before him, her blue eyes blaze even as she hugs herself. “You promised you wouldn’t, but”—her voice cracks and she clears her throat—“you did.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0051"><h2>51. Chapter 51</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A pregnant silence falls.</p><p>He doesn’t take his eyes off her. She seems small, vulnerable. Her arms are still around her, squeezing tighter under the cover of darkness, and she’s a fragile thing, ready to break under the weight of his presence.</p><p>
  <em>I did this.</em>
</p><p>His chest constricts, the last four months replaying in his head as he steps forward. “I wronged you.”</p><p>“Wronged?” Eyes clenching shut, she shakes her head and steps back. “You <em>hurt</em> me.”</p><p>The acknowledgment sticks in his throat before stumbling from his lips. “Yes. I hurt you.”</p><p>Her hands cover her face.</p><p>The image shatters him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0052"><h2>52. Chapter 52</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Before she can say no, he lifts her in his arms.</p><p>A shriek of rage cuts through her grief, and she smacks his shoulder, struggling. But the emotional strain of it is too much, and she crumples, surrendering again to tears.</p><p>“I hate you,” she says, but her arms loop around his neck.</p><p>Sesshoumaru doesn’t miss how they tighten, even as the scent of her disgust peaks. “That is fair.”</p><p>Anguished tears turn angry. “And I hate me.”</p><p>“That is not.”</p><p>“You’ll just abandon me again.”</p><p>“No.” Laying on the couch, he drags her onto his chest. “I will not.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0053"><h2>53. Chapter 53</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Crumpled in his arms, she lets four months of anger and hurt explode. She yells, curses, cries. Berates herself over and over for letting him in and wanting him to stay even as she unleashes the pain he caused in her next breath.</p><p>“This isn’t normal.” Propped on her elbows above him, she shoves the heels of her palms into her eyes. “I’m not supposed to want you here after what you did.”</p><p>The words hurt, but she’s right, and all he can do is take her face in his hands and apologize as she agonizes over where they stand.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0054"><h2>54. Chapter 54</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She paints his shirt in shades of pain, soaking through the material and branding her heart’s ache into his until she collapses on him, too spent to continue.</p><p>“I missed you.”</p><p>Her words huff, tinged with disgust.</p><p>Sesshoumaru closes his eyes, spreading his hand over her back to hold her closer. “Would you believe that it grieves me to have caused you pain?”</p><p>“Yes.” Fingers flex over his ribs, and her breath shudders. “But that doesn’t fix things.”</p><p>“No, it does not.”</p><p>They fall silent then, the darkness swallowing them where they lie soaking in the fragments of their relationship.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0055"><h2>55. Chapter 55</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Slowly, the tension melts away, and sometime after midnight, she pushes up on his chest to look down at him.</p><p>“This was exhausting.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru can only nod, the exhaustion she speaks of making his eyelids heavier than he’d like. But exhausting is too flimsy a word for the emotional weight bearing down on them.</p><p>She lifts her fingertips to trace his markings, and he leans into her touch, eyes locking on her face. Her own as well as her lips are swollen from crying, her cheeks streaked with salt.</p><p>Raw, honest<em>.</em></p><p>
  <em>Beautiful.</em>
</p><p>He brushes her skin, silently lamenting lost time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0056"><h2>56. Chapter 56</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She is fleeting<em>.</em></p><p>A wave of fresh grief floods over him, and suddenly his chest aches, and he can’t breathe.</p><p>“Sesshoumaru?”</p><p>Swallowing back the crushing reality of his folly, he reaches up and frames her face with his hands. “It feels presumptuous to ask for your forgiveness.”</p><p>Averting her eyes, she almost puts her teeth through her lip, her struggle evident on her face. “It might be.”</p><p>The truth cuts through him, and he’s nodding, prepared to accept it when she speaks again.</p><p>“But that’s going to be up to me.”</p><p>She lies on his chest again, heaving a sigh.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0057"><h2>57. Chapter 57</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They talk.</p><p>“I don’t think I could handle you doing that to me again.”</p><p>He hears the quaver in her voice, smells the tears that well up again, and automatically, his hold tightens. “I will not.”</p><p>A snort. “Understand if I don’t quite believe that yet.”</p><p>“Fair.”</p><p>She manages to keep her tears in and flings an arm around him, squeezing tight. “We need therapy.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru cranes his neck down, incapable of hiding his skepticism. “If that is what you want.” Still, he wrinkles his nose as he says it.</p><p>Poking him, she almost laughs. “I said need—not want.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0058"><h2>58. Chapter 58</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the night progresses, they reacquaint. Reaffirm. And sometime in the early morning hours, she pulls closer.</p><p>“I really did miss you.”</p><p>He searches her eyes as her hand lifts to trace his markings. “You as well.”</p><p>It’s easier to say than he thought it’d be.</p><p>“At least we’re on the same page then.”</p><p>Her nose brushes his cheek.</p><p>Sesshoumaru closes his eyes, breathing her in. She’s close. <em>Too close</em>. But even as he thinks it, he’s tilting his head, leaning up—</p><p>A raspberry blows straight on his mouth.</p><p>Stunned, his eyes fly open.</p><p>She smirks. “Try again in four months.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Longer update today. Much thanks to the lovely LadyGoshawk for all of her assistance on these! Quick note: these two are not magically better. They still have a lot of work to put into healing their relationship. So, next update, we'll get to see more of that process. Thank you for reading. Your comments have been feeding my soul and are greatly appreciated! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0059"><h2>59. Fork in the Road - Part 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There is artistry to her retribution.</p><p>The avant-garde glow of salt lamps bounces off walls covered in colorful tapestries, assaulting his senses along with the pitiless sting of incense as he walks into the small counseling center’s waiting room.</p><p>He resists the urge to cover his nose, eyes watering as he scans the space.</p><p>
  <em>There.</em>
</p><p>In the corner flipping through a magazine, the miko sits, trying not to laugh as she hums along with the chime-like tones of the Tibetan singing bowl playing over the sound system.</p><p>He glares and makes his way over. “Kagome.”</p><p>She smirks. “Something wrong?”</p><p>“Patchouli.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0060"><h2>60. Chapter 60</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s not what he is expecting.</p><p>A man seats them in a private room. He is soft-spoken, nonchalant. He pulls out a nondescript clipboard, sits across from them, and crosses his leg, mumbling a “hello” under his breath.</p><p>The miko shifts, her discomfort spiking.</p><p>Sesshoumaru sits, watching her shift and focus on her nails. Gone are the teasing smile and laughing eyes from the waiting room, any joke she had on him vanishing under the significance of this room and the eyes of a stranger.</p><p>“Let’s get started.”</p><p>Inhaling sharply, her hand grasps for his.</p><p>He catches it.</p><p>She breathes.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0061"><h2>61. Chapter 61</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thirty minutes in, Sesshoumaru stares wide-eyed, cold gripping his core.</p><p>Kagome almost crushes his hand. “W-what?”</p><p>The counselor, calm and collected, sets down his clipboard and looks up at them. “I’m sorry, but did you two not realize that this”—his brows lift as he points between them—“is a relationship?”</p><p>His words hit like a shockwave, and, unable to speak, Sesshoumaru is grateful when she does.</p><p>“W-we’re friends.” She squeezes his hand and titters nervously. “That’s what you mean, right?”</p><p>Lips stretching into a smile, the counselor shakes his head with a small laugh. “No.”</p><p>She pales.</p><p>He panics.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0062"><h2>62. Chapter 62</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s heavier than expected.</p><p>Lethargic, heavy-footed, he follows her into the parking lot. Streetlamps flicker to life as they head to her car, her feet dragging, illuminating the depth of her fatigue.</p><p>Sesshoumaru rubs his temple, her exhaustion bleeding into his.</p><p>“I wasn’t expecting that.” Leaning against her car, Kagome doesn’t bother to unlock it and knocks her head back against the metal, mascara-smudged eyes sliding over to him. “At all.”</p><p>“Neither was I.”</p><p>Sighing, she closes her eyes and hands him her keys. “Are we ready to talk about this?”</p><p>He frowns, taking them. “No, but we need to.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0063"><h2>63. Chapter 63</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The smell of takeout follows them into her home.</p><p>Twisting the handle of the plastic bag holding their food around her fingers, her hand shakes as she goes to flick on the light. “I’ll get some plates.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru gives a dismissive wave, dropping her keys on the console. “Do not on my account. The containers are fine.”</p><p>She looks away. “I’ll just get them.”</p><p>“Kagome—”</p><p>“I want plates!” Pink sparks from her fingertips as she screeches, and he watches with raised brows as her chest heaves, red rushing into her face. “I just…need a minute.”</p><p>His lips purse. “Okay.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0064"><h2>64. Chapter 64</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She needs more than a minute.</p><p>She brings plates, utensils, stemware, and then wine. Each is a separate, brief trip, punctuated by her mumbling under her breath, trying to make sense of everything rushing through her mind.</p><p>Sesshoumaru sits quietly and waits. Watches.</p><p>She turns on the drowsy sounds of lo-fi.</p><p>“Kagome.”</p><p>Her head snaps around, eyes wild, and then she’s wringing her own fingers, trying to control her breath. “What is it?”</p><p>Standing, he crosses the room and wraps her hands in his, ignoring the tingle of <em>reiryoku </em>against his palms. “Breathe.”</p><p>She does and then sags against him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0065"><h2>65. Chapter 65</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dinner is over and wine poured before she’s ready to speak.</p><p>“I don’t know how to do this.” Swirling the burgundy liquid in her glass, she looks up at him. “Don’t know where to start.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru drains his wine, nodding, and lets the lull of steady beats calm him before speaking. “Are you afraid?”</p><p>She laughs, the sound humorless. “Terrified. You?”</p><p>He hesitates. “Fear has taken new meaning since reuniting.” Moving closer, he draws her sock-covered feet into his lap. “It unsettles me.”</p><p>His thumbs press into her arch.</p><p>Kagome groans. “Are you stalling?”</p><p>Smirking, he does it again. “Perhaps.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0066"><h2>66. Chapter 66</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her toes wiggle in his hand, and she sighs, sinking back into the plush cushions. “Stall harder, please.”</p><p>He chuckles when she manages to wrap those toes around one of his fingers, and Kagome smiles at the sound before reaching down for his ankle. “Give it here.”</p><p>He pulls it back. “Need I remind you that <em>this</em>”—he shakes his foot—“has been in my shoe all day?”</p><p>“And mine hasn’t?” She grabs for him again and pulls his foot into her lap. “Consider it an act of love, Sesshoumaru.”</p><p>The words are out before she realizes what she’s said.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N: To be continued! This part isn't over yet, but it's been a while since I updated, so I'm breaking this part of the story into two drops. They are still working things out. It's still not magically better. But this is a conversation they need to have before they can move forward in healing. Thank you for reading. If you have time to leave a comment, they spark joy! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0067"><h2>67. Chapter 67</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Time slows down, blood rushing in his ears.</p><p>Unable to move, Sesshoumaru sits, frozen. His heart pounds in his chest, and she’s not looking at him—won’t. The playful humor from moments before is gone, her hand pressed to her mouth, eyes focused on her lap as his foot slips from her grasp.</p><p>She is uncertain, small. And her anxiety saturates the room.</p><p>“That wasn’t supposed to come out like that,” she whispers, folding her hands.</p><p>He watches them tremble against her legs, his throat dry. “Was there another way?”</p><p>She wipes away tears and, bitter, laughs. “About a million.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0068"><h2>68. Chapter 68</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Before he can react, she’s across the couch, curling up on top of him, and fisting his shirt in her hands as she sighs. “I tried not to.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru tilts his chin down, watches her close her eyes as he lets his arms fall around her. Hurt, heartache, and grief bleed through his defenses into his skin, chipping away at the control he’s barely keeping together, and he holds her tighter, daring to let his lips brush her hair. “Why?”</p><p>Tears stick in her throat. “Because I’m temporary.” She pushes up under his chin, seeking—<em>giving</em>—comfort. “And you’re not.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0069"><h2>69. Chapter 69</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The heaviness wraps them in silence, and they lay on the couch, lost in their reality. But she is soft, warm, soothing…</p><p>
  <em>Alive.</em>
</p><p>He holds her tighter.</p><p>She hums pleasantly, burrows deeper, and he feels one arm slip around between his back and the cushions to pull him closer. “I never expected this.”</p><p>Claws drifting lazily along her back, Sesshoumaru presses his nose to her hair, breathing in her scent. “Neither did I.”</p><p>Suddenly, her head pops up, and she flashes him a grin, breaking the somber atmosphere. “<em>Definitely</em> didn’t see it back then.”</p><p>He pokes her ribs; she laughs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0070"><h2>70. Chapter 70</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He’s nearly asleep when she takes his face in her hands.</p><p>“Miko?”</p><p>His eyes crack open.</p><p>“Kagome,” she reminds him, lips twitching. Intently focused, she traces along the color on his cheek, the moon on his brow. Brushes down his nose and across his lips, smiling softly when their corners lift. “I do love you.”</p><p>Warmth spreads through his chest, and he catches her hand, refusing to hide his sincerity. “And I you.” His hand cups her cheek. “Even in my failure to show it.”</p><p>“I know.” She lays back down, exhales heavily. “You wouldn’t have run if you didn’t.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0071"><h2>71. Chapter 71</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s dawn before he leaves.</p><p>Uncertainty has crept back in, and she shifts on her feet as he pulls on his shoes. “We’re committed to this?”</p><p>Sesshoumaru stands, giving her an exasperated look. “I am not going anywhere.”</p><p>“Yeah, but—”</p><p>He leans down, presses his mouth to hers, and <em>blows.</em> Hard.</p><p>It’s beneath him. He wouldn’t have done so in the past. But as she squeals and laughs, the sound bursting out before he can pull away, he finds himself smiling.</p><p>“<em>You!”</em></p><p>“Are going to work.” Straightening, he surprises himself when he winks. “But I will see you tonight.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N: That finishes this drop! The hard work is to come now that they have acknowledged more where they are going. Thank you for reading, and a huge shout-out and thanks to all of you who have left comments and reviews. Thank you so much! I hope everyone continues to enjoy. Stay safe out there! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0072"><h2>72. Saltwater Tears - Part 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They bleed into each other again.</p><p>There are moments, touches, therapy appointments and confessions, separations—the latter at least are brief. But sunup to sundown, these things intersperse their lives, familiar comforts and pains that are interrupted by sweet and bittersweet memories.</p><p>Sometimes hard ones.</p><p>“Kagome…”</p><p>Patchouli tortures his senses, and Sesshoumaru closes his eyes against a splitting headache as the counselor speaks.</p><p>“…is there something you wanted to say?”</p><p>Something ozone-like spikes through the perfumed air, and his gut clenches, knowing what she has to say will cut deep.</p><p>Still…</p><p>Without hesitation, Sesshoumaru takes her hand. “I am listening.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0073"><h2>73. Chapter 73</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Therapy isn’t always calm.</p><p>“You <em>jerk!”</em></p><p>Sesshoumaru watches her eyes flash as she jumps off the couch, whirling on him, and the counselor sits just a bit farther back in his seat, eyes widening.</p><p>His own narrow. “Watch yourself, Kagome.”</p><p>She’s not intimidated.</p><p>“I can’t believe you’re bringing up your brother!” A slender finger stabs into his chest. “I’d wake up in the morning, see them sitting there, and my first thought—the first one <em>after</em> reminding myself <em>it wasn’t real</em>—was that I wanted <em>you</em>!”</p><p>Temper flaring, he jumps to his feet. “<em>You</em>—”</p><p>“Both of you sit down!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0074"><h2>74. Chapter 74</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>But there is progress.</p><p>Breath seizing stubbornly in his chest, his lungs burn. The miko and counselor are watching, waiting. But her question—the one he’s owed her an answer to since he stepped out of her life all those months ago—paralyzes him.</p><p>“Sesshoumaru?” the counselor prompts.</p><p>It’s suddenly too much, and he folds. “I was scared.”</p><p>Next to him, her breath catches.</p><p>He forces himself to look at her, to give her that much. But it is uncomfortable and painful, and his words rasp. “And that is difficult for me to admit.”</p><p>A small hand slides into his.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0075"><h2>75. Chapter 75</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There’s also regression.</p><p>Youki crackling just underneath the surface, he isn’t convinced her sitting across the room from him is quite far enough.</p><p>Her glare says she agrees.</p><p>“Okay.” Frazzled, the counselor reaches into a drawer, pulling out something long and cylindrical that flutters with crepe paper and ribbon. “We’re trying something new.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru scoffs. “What is that gaudy thing?”</p><p>From her corner, Kagome snorts. “Uppity, disdainful, bratty—”</p><p>“<em>You</em> are a spoiled—”</p><p>“<em>This</em> is the talking stick!” the counselor cuts in, barely keeping his own temper. “And <em>neither</em> of you say a word without this ‘gaudy’ thing in your hand!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0076"><h2>76. Chapter 76</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nearly four months in, the talking stick breaks, and they leave with homework.</p><p>Kagome wrinkles her nose at the mangled stick in her hands and unlocks her car. “I can’t believe he expects us to make another one.”</p><p>The sentiment is one he shares, and it’s tempting to throw the damned thing as far as he can so they never have to see it again. “That is not all he expects of us.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Suddenly, she looks tired. “Tonight?”</p><p>Empathy stirs in his chest, and he shakes his head. “Not tonight.”</p><p>Her shoulders sag in relief. “Good. I hate homework.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0077"><h2>77. Chapter 77</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s three hours later when he finally gets home.</p><p>Fatigue settles into his bones, and he lets the glamor slip away, tossing his keys on the console.</p><p>Drops his wallet there.</p><p>His phone.</p><p>A paper snags on his pocket, and he pulls it out, unfolding it to find his homework glaring back up at him.</p><ol>
<li><em>Plan a date.</em></li>
<li><em>Share something vulnerable.</em></li>
<li><em>Take measures to re-establish trust.</em></li>
</ol><p>A text buzzes his phone, and he picks it up again.</p><p>
  <em>I love you! Sleep well!</em>
</p><p>Unbidden, he smiles, texting back.</p><p>
  <em>I love you.</em>
</p><p>Strange how it’s not so hard anymore.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0078"><h2>78. Chapter 78</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As he heads to bed, Sesshoumaru realizes something.</p><p>Four months is in six days.</p><p>Cool sheets slide around him, and he settles with an arm behind his head, the thought sinking in as he stares at the walls.</p><p>They’re nothing like hers.</p><p>Austere, impersonal <em>white</em> surrounds him, shadows the only vibrancy in the small space. And frowning, he realizes it’s always been this way.</p><p>With a huff, he turns his head, trying to get more comfortable. But he misses the warmth that fills every nook and cranny of her home. Misses the feel of her in his arms.</p><p>
  <em>Four months.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0079"><h2>79. Chapter 79</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three days later, he’s in the shower when she texts.</p><p>
  <em>Grey or blue?</em>
</p><p>Brow creasing, he pushes wet, soapy hair from his eyes and texts back. <em>Depends on what it is.</em></p><p>Seconds tick by…</p><p>
  <em>I’m trying to pick a dress for tonight. So, which do you like?</em>
</p><p>But before he can respond…</p><p>
  <em>Oh, never mind. I’ll show you.</em>
</p><p>His eyes widen, but before he can text <em>wait</em>, the video chat springs up on his screen. Scrabbling, he nearly drowns the phone before balancing it on the shower caddy, high enough to not traumatize her.</p><p>When he answers, she’s smiling.</p><p>“Hel-<em>oh!”</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0080"><h2>80. Chapter 80</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her cheeks are red. “I didn’t realize you were in the shower.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru pretends <em>not</em> to be caught off-guard and leans back into the stream of water to rinse. “You did not give me time to tell you.”</p><p>“No, I guess I didn’t.”</p><p>Hand covering her mouth, she can’t look away, and her eyes fixate on the color running beneath his collarbone.</p><p>He suppresses the urge to smirk. “Kagome.”</p><p>Her head snaps up, eyes large. “Huh?”</p><p>“The dress?”</p><p>“Oh.” But she doesn’t move. “Sesshoumaru?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>Swallowing, she points. “You have more stripes?”</p><p>He loses the battle against the smirk. “Many.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0081"><h2>81. Chapter 81</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That night, she greets him in the blue dress.</p><p>Sesshoumaru steps inside, and her arms slide around him, warm and inviting, and she settles her head on his chest, breathing out a sigh as he holds her back.</p><p>“I missed you.” Her arms squeeze him tighter.</p><p>A chuckle rumbles where she lay, but he tightens his hold as well. “You saw me this morning.”</p><p>“Ha, yeah, about all of you.”</p><p>He smiles, teeth biting his lip, but it disappears before she sees, and he touches a soft, blue sleeve. “What is the occasion?”</p><p>Looking up, she’s suddenly serious. “My homework.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0082"><h2>82. Chapter 82</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They lounge on a blanket in her backyard, dinner a thing of the past and wine still in their hands beneath twinkle lights she’s hung. But she’s avoided why she asked him to come, avoided the topic of therapy.</p><p>Before he can ask, she speaks.</p><p>“This is really hard.” And she grasps his hand, blowing air through her cheeks.</p><p>Trying not to let her nerves affect his, he laces their fingers. “Healing is.”</p><p>“I know.” She struggles to speak. “My homework…”</p><p>“Yes?” He ignores the sinking feeling in his gut.</p><p>Her eyes clench. “<em>Forgive yourself, forgive him, share something vulnerable.”</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0083"><h2>83. Chapter 83</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There are tears on her cheeks. “I didn’t realize I needed to forgive myself. Or that I hadn’t forgiven you like I wanted to.”</p><p>Sesshoumaru says nothing, her hand held to his heart. There’s no possibility that she misses how it pounds beneath his ribs, but he waits, silently encouraging her to speak.</p><p>“I didn’t understand why you left, so I tried to find reasons. Flaws in me.” She looks down. “I didn’t realize I was devaluing myself. Or that I was angrier at you for how that made me feel.”</p><p>Glimpsing him, her voice cracks. “It all just hurt.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0084"><h2>84. Chapter 84</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His voice rasps as fresh conviction stabs him. “That is all valid.”</p><p>“It is.” Swiping at tears, she tries to staunch the grief streaming down her cheeks. “But so was your fear.” She swallows down emotion. “I think I’d be scared too.”</p><p>He tries to speak, but reality wraps around his throat.</p><p>“Sesshoumaru?”</p><p>Her tears thicken his name.</p><p>Sesshoumaru closes his eyes, anger at himself breaking free. “I wasted precious time.”</p><p>“No. You learned at my expense.” Tears fade, and her face softens with the truth. “But I forgive you.”</p><p>
  <em>I forgive you.</em>
</p><p>Three simple words.</p><p>And they break him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0085"><h2>85. Chapter 85</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The heels of his palms press into his eyes, the counselor’s instructions blaring in his memory.</p><p>
  <em>Share a vulnerability.</em>
</p><p>This isn’t what he had in mind, and apparently neither did the miko.</p><p>His eyes and lungs burn, breath refusing to come as he tries to control the disaster tearing through him, and he smells her panic before he hears it.</p><p>“Oh, gods, Sesshoumaru?”</p><p>Her weight crashes into his lap.</p><p>He falls back, tilting his head against the blanket, palms pressed tight as small hands begin to pull at his.</p><p>“Sesshoumaru?” she chokes. “Sesshoumaru, <em>please…”</em></p><p>He’s going to kill the counselor.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0086"><h2>86. Chapter 86</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Exhausted, emotionally battered, he lies with her in her bed and tries to pretend his eyelids don’t feel like glue as the dissonant sounds of lo-fi echo around them.</p><p>
  <em>We have a pattern.</em>
</p><p>Sniffles pull him from the thought. “No, Miko.”</p><p>Kagome lifts her head from his chest and gives him a quizzical look. “No?”</p><p>Easing her with him, Sesshoumaru sits up against the headboard, his own unwelcome sniffle grating on his ears. “If you start again, I will. So, <em>no.”</em></p><p>She laughs, the sound watery.</p><p>“<em>Miko.” </em>Covering his eyes again, he chokes on his own.</p><p>She just cry-laughs harder.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N: This is fast becoming my favorite fic to write. Major thanks go out to LadyGoshawk for her continued help in being my second set of eyes on this fic. Gos, I love you! Thank you everyone for reading. More to come, including Sesshoumaru's "homework." Stay safe, and if you have a moment, I'd love to know your thoughts! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0087"><h2>87. Catching Fire - Part 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Four months.</p><p>A penance.</p><p>A crossroads.</p><p>A journey.</p><p>Four months arrives with the dawn, its light splitting through slatted window coverings to scatter across his bed, and Sesshoumaru wakes to wide, brown eyes blinking beside him.</p><p>Ice shocks his veins. “You are not here.”</p><p>There’s mischief, a smile. The young face looking back at him tilts against the pillow, truth spilling from rosebud lips. “I’m always here.”</p><p>He tries to scowl, but the effort seizes under that truth, and he throws off the sheets.</p><p>Hollow and haunting, a giggle follows him into the bathroom.</p><p>“One day, she will be too.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0088"><h2>88. Chapter 88</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He flees to the shower.</p><p>Like pyre smoke, steam swirls and rises, testifying to the fluctuations of life. His vicissitude. Yet from the bedroom voices argue, the sound of a staff thumping the floor screeching over a little wraith’s indignation.</p><p>
  <em>“Rude child! Can’t you see…”</em>
</p><p>He can’t breathe.</p><p>
  <em>“Jaken-sama is mean!”</em>
</p><p>Sinks to the floor.</p><p>
  <em>“I am no such thing, spoiled girl!”</em>
</p><p>Wraps his arms around himself.</p><p>
  <em>“Sesshoumaru-sama!”</em>
</p><p>Cracks.</p><p>
  <em>One day.</em>
</p><p>Dark, delirious, his laughter echoes off the tile, water nearly scalding as silver strands frizz in the humidity.</p><p>One day, her voice will be the loudest of them all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0089"><h2>89. Chapter 89</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There’s memory in his closet.</p><p>It hangs heavily, a silken mass of red and white, and he catches the familiar material between his fingers, its texture like cool water.</p><p>He touches.</p><p>Traces.</p><p>Reacquaints.</p><p>Indigo and yellow slip from a hanger, falling onto his wrist, and a small pointer finger reaches out to touch.</p><p>“You should wear it,” the wraith says.</p><p>Eyes sliding to his right, he refuses to look past the ponytail that sticks off the side of her head.</p><p>“<em>Wear</em> it.” A bright, toothless grin flashes up at him. “And this too.”</p><p>Thick fur tumbles out of the closet.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0090"><h2>90. Chapter 90</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The park is empty.</p><p>Dew still clings to the grass, the fog not yet burned off, and he waits beyond the trees, the past lingering in the mists.</p><p>Fur sits heavy on his shoulder.</p><p>The sun creeps higher, grass clings to his boots, and then the sound of her car pierces the peace.</p><p>Brakes grind. Her engine cuts off. There’s the slam of a door and keys falling on pavement. Soft curses.</p><p>He smiles.</p><p>But then he smells her, soft lavender wafting on the breeze. And he closes his eyes, committing it to memory until her breath catches behind him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0091"><h2>91. Chapter 91</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sesshoumaru turns, watches her step closer. Blue eyes fix on him, wide with intrigue and wonder as they rake over his clothes, settle on his face.</p><p>They shine and soften. “You didn’t hide them.”</p><p>She reaches up, touches his markings.</p><p>“No.” Hand covering the one on his cheek, he resists closing his eyes when her fingers thread through his hair. “I did not.”</p><p>A bitten lip, a nod of her head. “I didn’t know I needed this.” Kagome smiles, the action wavering and watery, and rests her palm on his chest. “But why?”</p><p>“Homework.” He covers her other hand. “Mine.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0092"><h2>92. Chapter 92</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There’s a box. A pearl. An ancient staff. And as understanding dawns on her, levity spares him grace.</p><p>The fur suddenly isn’t so heavy anymore.</p><p>Leaning closer, she hovers over the box, excitement and pink sparks of power snapping off her like sparklers. “That’s—”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Her hand covers her mouth, tears once again bright in her eyes. “Why?”</p><p>“<em>Re-establish trust.”</em> He speaks quietly, lifting the pearl. “But yours was first violated a very long time ago.”</p><p>Before she can respond, Sesshoumaru picks up the staff and slams the gem, ripping the seam between worlds.</p><p>“Allow me to amend that.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A/N: Short update today. I needed a break from other things I was working on, and this one wanted to get out. This part isn't over. More is to come. Thank you so much to everyone still reading and all of your comments. &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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